Lawsuit: Chicago's 'minor' traffic tickets shouldn't carry big fines

Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune

A parking ticket is left on a car in the 2200 block of North Washtenaw Avenue in Chicago in 2013. A new lawsuit alleges that Chicago’s parking and traffic ticket system violates the state constitution.

A parking ticket is left on a car in the 2200 block of North Washtenaw Avenue in Chicago in 2013. A new lawsuit alleges that Chicago’s parking and traffic ticket system violates the state constitution. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)

A new lawsuit alleges that Chicago’s parking and traffic ticket system violates the state constitution and that the city collected tens, “if not hundreds,” of millions of dollars in fines it did not have the right to charge.

Myron M. Cherry & Associates filed the lawsuit this week on behalf of Cook County resident Mike Blaha, who has been cited for a number of violations that exceeded $250 and wants class-action status, the lawsuit said.

Illinois law limits cities’ authority to dealing with only “minor” violations that carry “relatively minor fines and penalties,” the lawsuit said. But the city’s ordinance “contains a schedule of fines and penalties for certain standing, parking and compliance violations” that exceed what is allowed, it said.

Chicago Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey said the city is reviewing the lawsuit.

“Under state law and its home rule powers, the city has the authority to regulate its streets and determine the fines and penalties for vehicle and traffic violations,” he said.

The consequences of Chicago’s “excessive and oppressive” fine structure have been “disastrous” for Chicagoans, the lawsuit said.

“What starts out as a simple fine quickly doubles, followed by threats of losing their cars, driver’s licenses, jobs and ability to do business in Chicago,” the lawsuit said. “Indeed, the city has a long history of punitively enforcing its regressive fines and penalties, especially against citizens that are least able to pay them.”

“It’s one part of a bigger problem with the city’s municipal fine structure” said Jacie Zolna, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit. “We’ve uncovered through a series of lawsuits now a pattern of abuses the city’s engaged in, and it’s harming our city’s most vulnerable residents.”